Are the Sacramento Kings starting to break?
In a season filled with lows, the Kings dropped their sixth straight game Wednesday night to a completely depleted Detroit Pistons team by a final of 127-106.
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Former league MVP Derrick Rose put on a show, finishing with 22 points and 11 assists. Reserve Christian Wood more than doubled his scoring average, dropping in 23 points on 7-for-8 shooting and Reggie Jackson added 22 points in the blowout win.
Here are three takeaways as the Kings look listless in Detroit and fall to a season-high 14 games under .500 at 15-29 on the season.
Free Throws
The Kings continue to struggle not only with getting to the free-throw line, but with taking advantage once they get there.
NBA
Sacramento got the stripe lust 23 times on the evening and missed 11 of those shots. It was a team-wide issue with seven players missing at least one freebie.
In addition to struggling with their chances, the Kings put the Pistons at the line 44 times, where they hit 37.
It’s hard to compete when you get outscored at the free-throw line by 26 points. Sacramento needs to be more aggressive in their attack and they have to stop fouling teams at will.
New Guys
With Marvin Bagley and Richaun Holmes out with injury, coach Luke Walton turned to Kent Bazemore and Anthony Tolliver to eat some minutes.
Bazemore brought the same energy he’s been known for during his eight-year NBA career. With the Kings needing easy buckets, he got to the free-throw line and finished with seven points, three rebounds and a steal.
Tolliver went scoreless in six minutes of action, missing his only two attempts from the field.
Bombing Bogi
Bogdan Bogdanovic is starting to get his legs under him after a six-game absence. The Kings need even more from their super-sub.
Against the Pistons, the Serbian-born wing went 3-for-8 from long range to finish with 19 points and three assists.
With Buddy Hield struggling to get anything to fall from the perimeter, Walton might need to rely more on Bogdanovic that originally expected if the Kings have any hopes of pulling out of the spiral.
Would trying a starting backcourt of Bogdanovic and De’Aaron Fox make sense for Sacramento at this point?